I stare up at my ceiling from my bed and idly tap my hoof on the bed. I have to think of something good. Something that would be remembered in the hallways of Ponyville High forever. I grimace and glance over at Albert, who is sitting on my bedside table.
"Albert, I'm under a lot of pressure. Orange Peel and Silver Shine both wrote to me and asked me what I was doing as a senior prank. I have to do something unique. I'm a bat pony being raised by a human from another dimension. If I just quietly graduate, I'll have wasted an opportunity that nopony else will ever have."
Albert just sits there supportively. I sigh and blow a lock of my mane out of my face.
"It's gotta be memorable, but no so bad that they don't let me walk at graduation. That wouldn't be any fun at all. Maybe I could ask Princess Twilight what ponies did at Celestia's school?" I shake my head. "No, she'd never let me go through with anything, and all of the high-powered unicorns went there instead of boring ol' Ponyville High." I tap my jaw in thought. "I could ask Dad, but I can't rely on him for everything, and he might veto the idea, too. I know Mom wouldn't be thrilled by it. She deals with pranks too much to be in on the idea." I shrug. "And pranks that third-graders wouldn't be all that great for a senior in high school."
Albert sits there in agreement. I click my tongue and shake my head.
"Let's see... bat pony. Human. Rich beyond wildest dreams. Bat pony. Human. Rich. Bat pony. Human. Human. Gotta do something with that. Human. Hu--" I shoot up, my eyes wide. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?!" I grin and hop out of bed. Yeah, this is too good. It's memorable, nopony can copy it later..." I giggle and fly outside of my bedroom window. Mom's at work, but Dad's downstairs doing something or other. If I saw him, he'd know I was up to something. No, better sneak out while I can. Even if he does come up to check on me, it's Ponyville. I close the window behind me and fly through the town proper. From the sky I can see Ponyville High in the distance, just ripe for a great prank. Giggle.
I make it through town and to the outskirts, landing outside of Fluttershy's animal sanctuary. She's right by the front gate, repairing a section of the wooden fence. She looks up from her work and smiles at me.
"Hello, Comet. How are you today?"
"Just peachy, Miss Fluttershy. And you?"
"Doing pretty well," she replies, putting the hammer back in the tool belt around her waist and putting the nails she has behind her ear back in the nail box. "The animals are all doing well. Your dad's donations have gone a long way toward making this even better than I could have imagined!"
I know. She tells us any time she sees one of us.
"In any case, is there something I can do for you?" she continues.
I shake my head. "Actually, I was hoping that Discord was around."
As if on cue, said draconequus pops out of thin air in a puff of smoke that smells like popcorn with a giant grin on his face.
"Me? The daughter of Ponyville's resident human needs me for something?" he chuckles and begins fanning himself. "I'm honored you'd come to talk to me."
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I need your help with a prank."
His eyes widen until they're double in size, and his grin legit looks like it's going to split his head in half.
"A prank!" Before I can do anything, he grabs me and pulls me into a tight hug, somehow making me squeak like a teddy bear. "Oh, I just adore pranks! Do you have something in mind? Is it against our newest princess? Is it against our old princesses? Or some nobility?"
I'd have to file the idea of pranking the nobility away for later.
"Actually, nothing all that complicated," I reply, wiggling out of his grasp and landing next to Fluttershy. "I need your help for my senior prank."
"Ooh, a senior prank, you say?" He lands in front of us as Fluttershy gives us a small, disapproving frown.
"Discord, Comet, I don't think a senior prank is such a good idea. There are a lot of ponies who are going to school to get a good education, and I'd hate for you to do something that interrupts that."
"Pshhh, it'll be fine," I assure her with a wave of my hoof. "Senior pranks are a long, dignified tradition going back to even before the founding of Equestria. Even Celestia's school has them."
"I can verify this," Discord chimes in. "I helped with a round of pranks several thousand years ago. Good times." He turns his attention back to me. "I assume that you have something in mind, then."
I nod. "Definitely. It's something that I can't do without you, so I'm hoping you're willing to do in on this with me." My eyes narrow. "And not abuse it later. I have very specific ideas of what I want to do." I look over to Miss Fluttershy. "And they're not bad. I promise."
"Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing ever if the prank was a little bad," Discord says. "After all, what's the fun in a tame prank?"
"Me not getting to walk at graduation would be a pretty bad thing. I worked hard for that 4.0 GPA," I grumble. "But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that I have the perfect prank in mind." I grin and rub my hooves together. "They're going to be talking about it as long as Ponyville exists."
* * * *
Two days later, I'm standing on the stage at the Ponyville theater in front of the other two hundred and fifty-seven seniors of Ponyville High. They're all muttering to each other, no doubt wonder what I have in store for them. Considering that with Discord's help this meeting was... less than voluntary, they had to know it would be good. Any worries that ponies would notice this little gathering were waved away by Discord. He was hiding this meeting from the town. Anypony who came close to the theater would get the "Hogwarts Treatment" as I called it. They'd suddenly remember that they had somewhere to be or something else to do. We wouldn't be interrupted.
I take a deep breath and grab the microphone on the stage. "Hello? Can I have everypony's attention, please?"
The chattering dies down, and all two hundred and fifty-seven ponies turned their gazes to me. I give them a weak smile and clear my throat. "So, uh, you're probably wondering why you're all here."
"Duh," one of the ponies in the back row shouts.
I glare at him. "I'm getting to that." I take the mic out of the stand and begin flying back and forth on the stage like a general addressing their troops. "Anyway, as you all know, graduation is less than two weeks away, and there hasn't been a single great senior prank." I glare at one of the ponies in the front row. "And putting sticky notes over the principal's desk doesn't count as a great prank."
"I thought it was funny," the colt mutters.
"It wasn't. Nopony was impressed." I turn back to the rest of them. "But I have an idea that I think will impress all of you and go down in the history of Ponyville High as the best senior prank ever pulled! What's better is that it can't possibly be repeated. You have the opportunity to be a part of the biggest prank in the history of Ponyville High, nay, all of Equestria!"
"You're really milking this one for all its worth, aren't you, Powell?" a filly in the middle calls out.
"Oh, I think you'll agree with me once you hear it. For that, I turn to my co-conspirator, one Mister Discord."
On cue, Discord pops out in a flash of neon orange smoke. The ponies in the crowd start muttering to each other. If I've gotten Discord involved, this has to be good. Well, it is.
"Hello fillies and gentlecolts!" he says. "As your esteemed classmate Miss Powell has stated, this is one for the books! However, it won't be as good unless all of you get involved. I'd hate to be the one pony who ruined all of the fun because you decided to have a stick up your plot and not live a little."
"Besides, Principal Blackboard can't punish the entire senior class," I chime in. "If we show unity, there's nothing he can do. What, is he going to cancel Senior Ditch Day? He can't cancel something that happened a week ago. He's definitely not going to cancel graduation."
"Get on with it," one of the fillies growls.
"Yes, get on with it!" one of the colts agrees.
"Yeah, get on with it!" the rest of the ponies shout.
"Agreed," Discord says. "Get on with it!"
I roll my eyes. "Okay, here's what we're going to do."
* * * *
I adjust my saddlebag and whistle a happy tune to myself as I walk through the doors of Ponyville High. Everypony is staring at me with wide eyes and dropped jaws. I nearly burst out laughing, but I have to keep a straight face if this is going to work.
"Good morning, everybody," I say, nodding my head to a few of the students. "Cheer, got that math test today, right? Spinning, you get that project done on time? You're already done with your paper, aren't you, Time?"
"Miss Powell!"
I don't know how I keep a straight face, but I somehow do as I turn to see Principal Blackboard stomp up to me. I give him an innocent wave.
"Good morning, sir. How are you today?"
"What is the meaning of this?" he growls, motioning to me. "What have you done?"
I look down at myself with a frown. "What do you mean? I always look like this. Same bat wings, same cat eyes, same feet, same hands, same human face..." I shrug. "Not sure what the problem is. Is it the shirt and jeans? I thought black was fine. I have the usual holes in my shirt for my wings..." I click my tongue. "Really not sure what the issue is."
He narrows his eyes. "Get into my office while I contact your parents. This is a deliberate distraction that... that..." His eyes widen when Cherry Bomb walks through the door behind me, also whistling the same tune. Also human.
"'Mornin' Principal Blackboard."
And like that, the floodgates open. The seniors of Ponyville High start filing into the school, each and every one of them a human. The pegasi still have wings and the unicorns still have horns, but other than that, they could probably pass for normal in Dad's home world.
Principal Blackboard's eye twitches. "I... I..."
"Well, I gotta get to class," I say, glancing at a nearby wall clock. "Still have a few more days of school, and it's finals next week. See ya."
"I... I..."
Amidst the stares from both staff and fellow students, the seniors all begin walking to their classes. I head straight to my first class with Mr. Beaker. Ugh, prank aside, I'm glad I only have four more days of this stupid class. I know I'll have to take math and science classes in medical school, but more biology and less physics. I hope.
I reach the classroom and walk inside where a couple of other seniors have already taken their seats, completely ignoring the stuttering from Mr. Beaker. He sees me walk in and I give him a slight nod before taking me seat which has somehow grown large enough for me to sit in it.
I take my notebook and pen out of my saddlebag and place them in front of me. I notice that the students beside me are still getting used to having opposable thumbs, but the unicorn student is just using her magic like normal. Eh, whatever works.
The bell rings, and all of the students (this is an all senior class) stare straight ahead at Mr. Beaker, expectantly awaiting class to start.
"Uh... you all look..." He blinks. "Different."
The class all exchanges confused frowns and mutters. "What do you mean, Mr. Beaker?" one of them asks.
He sighs and facehooves. "I think you all know exactly what I mean." He glances up at me. "I assume this is your doing, Ms. Powell? You are noticeably the only pony here with a human relative of any sort."
I shrug and tap my finger on the desk. "Dunno. Dad can't exactly do magic. Mass memory loss isn't something that he'd be able to pull off at any rate."
Mr. Beaker sighs and shakes his head. "Filling the hallway with balloons. What happened to the good ol' days of seniors filling the hallway with balloons?" he mutters to himself. "Well, in any case, let's pick up from where we left off on Friday."
As he starts his lecture, I notice that most of the students are trying to figure out holding their pens, despite the practice session we had last night. Ah well. They'll get it.
* * * *
"Thank you for coming, Princess Sparkle. I wasn't sure who else to turn to."
Princess Sparkle frowns at me. "Are you sure it isn't some kind of prank, Principal Blackboard? I mean, it is the time of year for that, and--"
"No, no, this is something else. Dark magic, maybe. Ms. Powell is no doubt behind it all." Princess Twilight's ear twitches, but she follows me to one of the nearby classrooms. "This is disruption of the highest order, and I am worries about what kind of magic is behind it and if it could affect my school." I light my horn and pull the door open to one of the senior classrooms. "See for yourself!"
Nopony says anything for a few seconds. Princess Twilight is in shock, no doubt. I've never seen anything like this before myself.
However, her response isn't... quite what I expected.
"What am I supposed to be seeing here?"
"What?! I--" I turn to look into the classroom and see that there isn't a human in sight. All of them have reverted back to being ponies. Princess Twilight turns to me with a deeper frown.
"What dark magic are you seeing?"
"Well..." I glance into the classroom out of the corner of my eye, and a victorious smile crosses my face. "They're all human!" I point into the classroom. "See for yourself!"
I stare at a room of humans. When I blink, it turns into a room of ponies.
"There's only one human that I know about and he finished high school before he came to Equestria," Princess Twilight says.
"Forget it!" I roar. "There's something wrong here." I stomp away from the room, but not before looking back and seeing a group of grinning humans staring back at me. Insolent little foals. I nearly drag Princess Twilight to the next classroom and throw the door open. As I hoped, it was filled with humans. I kept my eyes wide open. They weren't changing back while I was looking. "See? Humans."
"Uh... I think you mean ponies," Princess Sparkle replies.
"No, I--" I make the mistake of looking away for just a moment. "You have to believe me, Princess Sparkle."
Princess Sparkle frowns and lights her horn, casting a spell over the room. She instantly grimaces and flattens her ears. "Ah. I see what's going on here." She sighs and rubs her temple. "Honestly, Principal Blackboard, I don't think this is such a big deal. It's just a senior prank."
"Regardless, it's disruptive," I growl.
"Not really once you get over the initial shock," the teacher chimes in.
"I feel that Ms. Powell is behind this," I say. "You clearly felt some kind of magic. Perhaps it would be best for the two of us to have a talk with her."
Princess Sparkle sighs. "Sure. It's your school."
I nod. "Indeed. Let's go find Ms. Powell."
As we walk, I hear Princess Sparkle mutter something about how since this is a public school and she is royalty, she has more power. I ignore that.
* * * *
I'm in math when the hammer falls.
Ugh. Figured that he wouldn't be a good sport about it. Everybody else was. Even the teachers. The door to my classroom bursts open and Principal Blackboard stomps in followed by, of all ponies, Twilight. Principal Blackboard has Tartarus fire in his eyes. Great.
"My office at once, Ms. Powell." I glance over at Twilight, who nods. Good grief. I gather up my stuff and follow Principal Nastyface to his office. Once we get there, he sits behind his desk while Twilight and I take our seats.
"Explain," he says with ice in his voice. "And I don't want to hear anything about how this is normal and whatnot."
I shrug. "Well, I don't think I have to, really. We were all having fun. It'll wear off once the final bell rings, and everybody will look back on this as a legendary event."
"I will allow no such thing," Principal Dumdum snaps. "This will be forgotten!"
I scoff. "I didn't know that you had the authorization to cast a memory spell of that level," I retort. "You might as well stop a tornado by asking it nicely. Everybody at the school from the faculty, to the janitors, to the other students have seen this. I'm sorry, but I can't stop this. Nobody can."
"I assume that you got Discord to help you?" Twilight asks. "I sensed his magic when I did the scan."
"You enlisted the help of an ancient chaos being who once ruled Equestria with ill intent for your foalish prank?!" Principal Blackbutt roars.
I shrug. "Yep."
His eyes narrow. "Oh, there will be consequences for this. I may not be able to punish the entire senior class, but you can certainly forget about walking at graduation. Was it worth it, Ms. Powell? All that work, all of those years of study, and you won't be able to--"
"No, that's not going to happen," Twilight says.
Principal Boing Boing widens his eyes. "But... but she--"
"I know, I know, but like I said, this is more of a prank than anything," Twilight replies. "Besides, it's harmless. It's not like anypony has been hurt by it."
"She--"
"Principal Blackboard, by royal order, I forbid you from preventing her to walk at graduation," Twilight says.
I give Principal Blackbinger a smug smile and am just about to say something when the door opens and one of the administrative assistants walks in, and for some reason she's blushing like crazy.
"Uh, Principal Blackboard... uh..."
He frowns at her. "What? What is it? Spit it out!"
"Well, one of the custodians went into one of the locker rooms to clear it out and found two students... seniors..." Her blush deepens. "Er... fornicating in there."
Slowly, Principal Blackboard turns a death glare to me. I chuckle uneasily and rub the back of my neck.
"Not my fault."
* * * *
"Cherry Bomb!"
Applause.
"Ruby Shine!"
Applause.
"Comet Powell!"
I walk across the stage with a huge smile on my face. Finally, high school is over! I can go off to college and be an adult and all of that! I turn to where I hear Mom and Dad cheering for me and give a giddy little bounce. I can't believe that it's all over.
I make my way to Principal Blackboard, who is doing his best to keep a smile on his face. Yeah, he never really forgave me for the whole human senior prank incident. Not my fault that several students decided to "try their new human bodies out." It mostly went well, and ponies are going to be talking about it forever! We even managed to get a class photo of everybody as a human the night before we pulled the prank and hoof those out. We'll all have fond memories of that for sure.
Principal Blackboard's smile turns into a grimace as I reach him, and he extends my diploma to me, and his eyes narrow.
"You won't always have royal friends to get you out of a spot, Ms. Powell," he growls under his breath.
I stick my tongue out at him and snatch the diploma out of his hoof. "Pretty sure my dad and Twilight are going to live in the same town for a while. Besides, now students are going to do everything they can to one-up my prank. Have fun."
With that, I tuck my diploma under my wing and go to join the other seniors.